Major secondary missions of Norton Air Force Base was as Headquarters Air Defense Command for Southern California, during the 1950s and 1960s. The Air Force Audio-Visual Center produced air force films for training and public relations. The Air Force Now film, shown at monthly commander's calls at air force bases around the world was produced at Norton. Norton hosted numerous Air Force Reserve transport units. The Office of the Inspector General was located at Norton, as was the Directorate of Aerospace Safety.

Norton Air Force Base was named for San Bernardino native Captain Leland Francis Norton (1920–1944). While attacking a marshaling yard on his 16th combat mission, Captain Norton's Douglas A-20 Havoc was struck by antiaircraft fire on 27 May 1944 near Amiens, France. After ordering his crew to bail out, Captain Norton perished with his aircraft. His portrait hung in the officers' club until base closing.

Norton Air Force Base began before World War II as Municipal Airport, San Bernardino under Army Air Corps jurisdiction. During the summer of 1941 it became a training base to meet the needs of the 30,000 Pilot Training Program. In December 1941, within days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, combat-ready fighter planes arrived to protect the Los Angeles area from enemy attack

On 1 March 1942, the airport was renamed San Bernardino Army Air Field and the San Bernardino Air Depot was established there. The first aircraft arrived at the new base on 2 June 1942. All runways were completed by December and night flying was initiated in March 1943. During the war, Norton's primary function was the repair and maintenance of aircraft. At the end of the war, the base became a processing and separation center for the millions of servicemen being discharged. On 7 April 1947, George G. Lundberg was named base commander.[1]

During World War II, San Bernardino Army Airfield provided administrative and logistical support for the United States ArmyDesert Training Center (DTC). The DTC was a massive training facility set up in the Mojave Desert; largely in Southern California and Western Arizona. Its mission was to train United States Army and Army Air Corps units and personnel to live and fight in the desert, to test and develop suitable equipment, and to develop tactical doctrines, techniques and training methods. Known sub-bases and auxiliaries set up to support DTC Army Air Force activities were:

With the air force moving into the jet age in the late 1940s, Norton began overhauling jet engines in 1951, and the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area became one of three air force jet overhaul centers by 1953. To accommodate the largest Strategic Air Command bombers, the main runway was extended to 10,000 ft by 1954. B-45 Tornado upgrades were performed at Norton in the late 1940s.

On 29 November 1957, General Thomas D. White disclosed the development of an anti-missile called the Wizard, the assignment of intercontinental and intermediate-range ballistic missile programs to Strategic Air Command, and a transfer of the 1st Missile Division to SAC. Also, the San Bernardino Air Force Depot, California, would assume support for long-range ballistic missile programs.[2]

In the 1960s, Norton expanded its depot support mission by supporting Titan and Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)s, with depot-level logistical support. Also SAMSO, the Space and Missile Systems Organization, which managed the Minuteman and Peacekeeper programs, was located at Norton from the 1960s. Upon base closure, the mission was transferred to Los Angeles Air Force Station, later, Los Angeles Air Force Base.

A change of mission in 1966 from Air Force Logistics Command to Military Airlift Command (MAC) meant that Norton became one of six Military Airlift Command strategic-airlift bases, supporting US Army and Marine Corps' airlift requirements among other functions. Also, a new MAC passenger terminal was built to replace the World War II era (1944) facility to better handle passenger traffic, primarily to and from Southeast Asia. The new airline-style building was activated in 1968. The base newspaper in this era was named "The Globetrotter".

In 1950, Air Defense Command activated the 27th Air Division (Defense) at Norton AFB, being assigned to the Western Air Defense Force. Its mission was the air defense of southern California and later southern Nevada. By 1953, its area of control included a small portion of Arizona. The 27th AD controlled both aircraft interceptor squadrons, as well as general surveillance antiaircraft radar squadrons.

LAADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and the designation was returned as the 27th Air Division, being stationed at Luke AFB, Arizona under Fourth Air Force as part of a consolidation with the inactivating Phoenix Air Defense Sector. DC-17 at Norton was inactivated a few months later on 25 June 1966, its mission being consolidated with SAGE Data Center DC-21 at Luke AFB under the 27th AD.

The SAGE Direction Center closed in 1966 along with the other ADC facilities at Norton. It became the home of the Air Force Audiovisual Service. The windowless, temperature controlled SAGE structure was perfect for film storage. It also was the home of the Air Combat Camera Service. After Norton closed in April 1994, the facility was essentially abandoned, and remains so today. Many adjacent smaller structures have been demolished, and likely it remains standing is due to its heavily-reinforced concrete and steel construction.

On 24 March 1944, the second of only two Vultee XP-54 experimental fighters made its first and only flight, landing at Norton with a failed Lycoming engine. The P-54 project was canceled and the airframe grounded to support the first prototype.[5]

Norton AFB served as the last assignment for Chuck Yeager. He retired at the base on 1 June 1975.

In 1957, while flying aboard a C-124 Globemaster II, the WAF Band was invited by General James L. Jackson, Deputy Commander of the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area, Air Materiel Command,[6] to move to his headquarters at Norton AFB. The move took place in January 1958. The band retained its training and chain-of-command connection with the USAF band school at Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. At Norton, the band found it easier to schedule C-124 planes and pilots to keep up their touring schedule. Upon arriving, the 55 female airmen discovered that their new housing facilities were tiny cubicles for rooms and that the shared bathroom had no doors on the toilet stalls, a disappointing change from their former quarters at Lackland AFB, Texas, and at Bolling. The women worked to transform the barracks into a more homey atmosphere. The WAF Band was inactivated in 1961. Because of the warm climate and welcoming environment, some of the women airmen settled permanently in the San Bernardino area after their tour of duty.[7]

The aviation facilities of the base were converted into San Bernardino International Airport, and 3 of the 4 stationed squadrons (all 4 of which were part of the 63d and 445th Military Airlift Wings) – C-141 Starlifter, C-21, and C-12 Huron aircraft – were moved to nearby March Air Force Base, while the remaining squadron – C-141 aircraft – was moved to McChord Air Force Base, Washington. Control of the airport and surrounding facilities was turned over to a consortium consisting of several nearby cities to manage and oversee its operation. While the airport is reported to be making money, no company currently operates scheduled flights from the airport. A bid to gain traffic from DHL was lost to March Air Reserve Base and current market conditions do not lend themselves to any airlines wanting to start service to a new airport in the Greater Los Angeles Area. However, improvements in recent years to the runway and terminal facilities as well as infrastructure support such as widening of area roads have been made and the airport is still looking for a carrier willing to begin operations.[8] Charter as well as private flights do operate from SBIA and it is also used as a base for firefighting planes when needed.

Recently, private development on the former base has helped turn the basically unused land into jobs and revenue for the city of San Bernardino as several companies have opened distribution centers on the property. Mattel opened a distribution center in 2004, consolidating three other smaller ones from around Southern California into a single location.[9]Stater Brothers Markets also built a new headquarters as well as a centralized warehousing facility. The completion of the project in 2007 consolidated the headquarters and a warehouse from nearby Colton as well as several other warehouses that had been located around the Inland Empire into a single location.[10] Industrial buildings used by Pep Boys Auto and Kohl's are also located on the premises.

Norton AFB is mentioned in the 1992 film Sneakers. Dan Aykroyd's character Mother states "O.K., boss, this LTX-27 concealable mic is part of the same system that NASA used when they faked the Apollo moon landings. Yeah, the astronauts broadcast around the world from a soundstage at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. So it worked for them, shouldn't give us too many problems."[11]

^Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I – Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982; Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1989, page 447. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.